


The Unabridged Edition of Restored Fire Nation Folk History

by Artdirector123



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fire Nation, Fire Nation History, Firebending & Firebenders, Gen, Pre sozin, The Spirit World, lots of gay spirits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:28:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25831360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artdirector123/pseuds/Artdirector123
Summary: Something interesting I’m trying cause of the atla fandom renewal: some fire nation folk tales from before sozin took over and ruined everything ( like creating anti lgbt laws).Its my headcanon that prior to Sozin and Azulon the firenation has a rich history of pro lgbt folk stories and heroes. We don’t get enough lore in in atla so I’m writing up a textbook sort of edition of fire nation folk tales from the fire nation, with input from zuko, aang and a few OCs.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Introduction page

The Unabridged Edition of Restored Fire Nation Folk History  
first edition volume I

Adapted from the notes taken by Avatar Aang and Firelord Zuko from their recent expedition to Sun warrior temples and remote Fire Nation villages as well as scrolls from the dragon bones catacombs translated from dragon script and middle era script into standard simplified script and modern fire dialect by Dr. Suguro with footnotes, additions, and traditional explanations from Avatar Aang, Firelord Zuko, and Fire Sages Shyu, Hiroshi, Akira, and Hiromu. 

Published by the Caldera City University press at the approval of Firelord Zuko and the royal Fire sage temple archivists Professors Hadashi Ito-Watanabe and Shiro Fujimoto.

Special thanks to Fire Prince and General Iroh, King Bumi, Master Piandao, Master Jeong Jeong, and Master Paku of the Northern Watertribe, as well as Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water tribe, Suki, leader the Kyoshi warriors and her sisters in arms; Lady Mai Kyo, as well as Lady Toph Beifong, self proclaimed " strongest and greatest earthbender in the world even greater than the avatar, fight my ghost if you ever say otherwise in a future life, twinkletoes" (included upon her and the firelord's request).

In dedication to the loyal citizens of the Fire Nation and former colony members.

This text is not subject to copyright due to the origin of the stories held within these covers, beyond the rules of proper quotation of comments made by private citizens as set up by the national association for scholars and academics. 

Opening Letter from Firelord Zuko

As a proud citizen of this nation and loyal servant to his people as Firelord, it brings me no pleasure to say that in over 100 years of rule starting with my great grandfather Sozin declaring himself the beginning of the new era of the Fire Nation, my forefathers have deliberately stripped this nation and others of their cultural heritage and history. Through cruel laws written by selfish men, manipulation and censorship of the press, and unabashed rewriting of our history and miseducation of our youth, for generations the past Firelords have taken away the rights of our LGBT countrymen, disenfranchised our most vulnerable, lied to us about our own history, and disrespected our once most treasured traditions and spirits to mould them and our society to the image that reflected their own. It has come to a point where the true meaning of firebending and fire itself were almost lost to time. Had Avatar Aang and I not traveled to the ruins of the Sun Warrior civilization ourselves, we would not have even realized that the current idea of what firebending is, the very foundation of Fire Nation identity, had been so perverted and distorted. Firebending is not something to be fueled by rage and hatred. It is life. It is passion and vigor for existence itself. The inner fire that fuels a firebender's bending is the soul, the drive to live that is found in all creatures. And yet we strayed from that, the most basic philosophy of fire, for 100 years. Our society as it currently stands was also deliberately drawn away from the old ways of peaceful philosophy and culture to focus our values of that of power and superiority: to make our nation a living war machine.

While change is generally a good thing and old philosophies will eventually have to die off for the world to adapt to change, our change in basis was done so unnaturally and forcefully to make us more ready to take on the mantle of soldier, that in many respects it has bred toxins and cruelty among our fellow countrymen, not just those we once saw as enemies. If we are to truly be reborn from the ashes of our mistakes and adapt to the changes in the world, we must be able to learn from our past and draw new life from a different source than we have been. For this reason, the fire sages, my good friend the Avatar, and I have put together this collection of folk tales and early Fire Nation histories untainted by Sozin and my forefathers influence. To restore the arts is to renew the soul of the nation, and so with the restoration of our folk culture and traditions to their true nature, I hope that my nation for which I have great love may discover its true identity and find peace, as I had once I discovered my own inner truths. Thank you.

Sincerely,  
Firelord Zuko


	2. Section 1, part 1: Agni’s Origins

Section 1:  
Agni's Early History and Pre-Sozin Interpretations

Section Introduction  
By Fire Lord Zuko

Though I have no proper degree in Theology or National History, Agni is without a doubt the most honored and important spirit in the Fire Nation. Long having been seen as a creator deity, he has a place in most cultures around the world as the Sun spirit, the creator of day, and the one that gave firebending to humanity. In modern folk lore many are familiar with him as a stern, stoic spirit unafraid to severely punish those who have wronged him. It is unsurprising that the recent image of a proper firelord is seen as similarly unwavering and severe, as the royal lineage has long been thought of as the heirs of Agni. 

As a member of the royal family who himself has been known for not fitting this image too well, it may not come as a surprise to you that I say many early interpretations of Agni do not fit this image too well either. This doesn't mean the severe Agni is a lie, but in order to create a more imposing image of the Fire Nation, many stories of Agni that survived Sozin's reign and were taught in schools as part of Folk history were that of his more formidable side and those that took place in his "older years" when he showed more maturity and seriousness when trouble occurred. 

Many of the depictions that did not survive were earlier stories such as that of his origin where he was seen more as a trickster figure who would rather goof off than work. Young Agni's stories were focused more on love, his own follies, and celebrations of simple feats of triumph, as Aang and I quickly discovered from our travels. In fact in sun warrior histories, he's credited with the creation of a sacred ball game and many images of him included bouncing around the sun on his knees like a ball. He is also known for the invention of dance and enjoying entertaining others with his displays of fire like magician.

Though I know I have already angered some by daring to claim Agni acted childish in any way or was capable of failure, I do hope you enjoy this section of stories, readers, as much as I did upon learning of them.

Part 1: Agni's Origin  
Avatar Aang's notes: 

Hello to those hotmen and nonhotmen reading this! I am Avatar Aang and while I am no fire nation expert, I accidentally spent a hundred years in an iceberg asany already know so I have a bit of knowledge on early fire nation stories from when I was around, and I hope you enjoy my commentary throughout this book! For this particular story I actually have a very interesting connection to it. Did you know Agni was also an important spirit in Airbender folklore? Crazy, huh? In Airbender folklore while we had respect for all the spirits, we had six main ones: Tian the sky spirit and five of their children, the four winds and their youngest, Agni the sun spirit. Agni was important to us as he was thought to control the cycles of the air by heating it and creating thermals. As you will shortly see, old fire nation folk lore and the Air nomads had quite a few ideas in common for Agni. Pretty cool huh?

The Story of Agni and the Beginning of the World

In the beginning, when the mortal realm was first being created, the world was empty. There were only two spirits there: Tian of the sky and there was Diqi of the Earth. From them ten spirits were born. Diqi was mother to La the ocean spirit, Shan the mountain spirit, Kazan the volcano spirit, and Senlin the forest spirit. 

From Tian six spirits were created (1). First was Tui, the lady of the moon. Next came the four winds: Dong, Nan, Xi, and Bei, created in that order. Finally youngest was Agni, spirit of fire (2). He was not always the mighty sun spirit that we know. As the youngest of his siblings, he was very weak and easily distracted. While the children of Diqi and his sister Tui worked tirelessly to create the world, he would run and play with his siblings the winds. He would chase them around the world with his lanturn of fire, accidentally creating fires and bringing warmth to the earth in his footsteps, allowing for Senlin's plants to grow. This is how things persisted throughout Agni's childhood.

But this was not enough for life on earth to persist. Tui's light was not strong enough to raise trees taller than a few inches from the ground, and no flowers could bloom, thus no fruit could be made, thus no animals could survive. Something must be done if the mortal realm was to be completed. It could not persist in endless night.

"Agni has grown strong," suggested Shen, "Were he to perform one of his fire dances in Tian's realm he could create enough light to cover half the earth." But Agni though he had grown, was still but a child at heart. He was bored by the thought of hanging in the sky performing the same duty his elder sister did bringing light to the world. He was as wild as the flames he commanded, and would much rather continue roaming lower to the earth chasing one of his other siblings in a game of tag. No matter what they said he would simply hide somewhere in the world demanding they catch him if they wanted him to stay in the sky, and without his powers of fire to see their path along the earth they had no chance of finding him.

It was not until his sister Tui had a brilliant idea that things changed. One night, Tui invited the four winds to a tea party, with many sweet cakes and mochi that her servents had prepared for her as her instruction. 

Hours passed on the earth and Agni soon realized his siblings had left their game of tag on hold. The young spirit was livid and stomped his feet and called out to them, demanding to know where they had gone.

"We're up here!" Cried Xi from above, "We are having a lovely time with our dear sister."  
"Come join us!" Bei shouted down, "there is an extra seat just for you. Our sister has had the best foods of the spirit world prepared for us. Sweet creams, custard tarts, moon pies! Won't you join us?"

The young spirit could not resist the temptation of such treats, and so he skeptically climbed into the sky where a seat was waiting for him. As he climbed, the sky became brighter and brighter, and his siblings applauded his arrival.

"Why do you clap? I am not bound to the earth like Shen or Kazan," Agni snapped, "Were you expecting me to fail?" 

"Not at all dear brother, but look what you have done," Tui cooed while gesturing to the sky, "it has changed colors in your presence and grown brighter. See how well you illuminate the sky, much better than I." 

Agni looked around and it was true, the sky had turned from a dark black to a lighter grey, and the fire spirit felt a swell of pride. "This?" he said, "this is nothing, watch as I change it further."

With those words he created a great deal of fire, changing the twilight into a rosy hue as he and the flames danced: the first sunrise.

The sky spirits applauded louder. "More! More!" Nan pleaded.

"Yes, dear brother," Tui said, continuing to flatter her brother, "this display is truly beautiful."

And so Agni did, he made his ball of fire bigger and bigger, spinning it in a whirlwind dance until the whole sky was painted a bright blue.  
Soon the spirits of the earth below were looking on in awe and began cheering as the first day began.  
"Look at what you have done!" Tui cheered, "you have made the other spirits so happy with your display."  
"So I have!" He observed.  
"I bet they would be even happier if you did this every day," she continued, "dear brother won't you take up the mantle and help light the sky with me?"  
And this time Agni happily agreed. And so every day Agni displayed his fire creation abilities to the world below, causing trees to grow and flowers to bloom, to cause plants and animals to flourish, and so he took up a new name: Agni the Sun Spirit.

Hiroshi's literary and translation notes:  
(1)While modern retellings of the origin of the world often say Tian "fathered" the spirits of the wind implying masculinity, it has been found this is an edit made to the texts. Original texts of the origin of Agni leave out all gendered terms for them, only ever referring to them by the gendered pronoun characters if referred to with other spirits that are gendered, which will change depending on the genders of the other spirits, implying Tian has no gender of their own. Air nomads also referred to Tian as genderless showing this is not a mistake, but a direct reference to their lore. Similar is the case for the four winds. (2). Some modern texts that do acknowledge Agni as the child of Tian put him as the first child born, perhaps to draw more parallel to the firelord as birthright is passed down from father to eldest son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Future chapters may take a bit longer cause some are gonna be original but some are gonna be inspired from aztec, japanese, and south east asian mythos. Also for the gendered “them” in Kanji or Hanzi characters when referring to people theres a feminine and a masculine them depending on if the group you are referring to is made up of men or women, and the usage will change depending on if theres a majority men or women in the group, with the masculine version usually being the default with mixed gender groups. I haven’t seen a truly gender neutral them except in reference to animals or objects and its generally considered rude to refer to people or other “higher beings” by it. If anyone knows proper gender neutral kanji or hanzi pronouns I would appreciated learning about it.


End file.
